MedPAC discusses hospital short-stay policy, 340B and site-neutral paymentsAHA News Now
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed the option of creating specific Diagnosis-Related Groups for one-day hospital stays in an effort to reduce payment differences between short inpatient and similar outpatient hospital stays. Other related topics of discussion included rebilling for short stays, efforts to alleviate beneficiary concerns related to observation stays, and possible policy changes to the Recovery Audit Contractor auditing process.More

Friday is the final day to submit a poster presentationACMA
This Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, is the final day to submit a poster for the 2015 ACMA National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, April 26-29, 2015. The Poster Session provides an informal but professional forum to present and discuss your organization's advances in healthcare delivery system case management.

ACMA is always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the practice of case management. If you have a program or project that has had a positive outcome or provided a valuable resource to your patients, facility, or agency, we encourage you to submit an application at www.acmaweb.org/posters.More

OMHA seeks comments on how to address ALJ backlogAHA News Now
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals seeks suggestions for addressing the significant backlog of Medicare administrative appeals at the Administrative Law Judge level. The request for information seeks comments through Dec. 5 on current and potential initiatives to address the workload and backlog of appeals, as well as potential regulatory changes to streamline the adjudication process.More

The Health Care Standard
According to the 2013 National Hospital Case Management Survey, nearly half (47 percent) of case management departments prefer the ACM certification — the preferences of the remaining 53 percent of departments are divided among 4 certifications, with the ACM leading the next most preferred certification by more than 20 percent.

What are you waiting for?
If you are not yet ACM certified, apply now at www.acmaweb.org/ACM and put the ACM credential after your name.More

For your holiday star: A gift for the person who has everythingACMA
Are you having difficulty coming up with gift ideas for that person who has everything? Recognize those who mean the most to you — your "holiday stars" — by honoring them with a donation to ACMA in their name. Clients, colleagues, family, friends, directors, staff, physician advisors, departments, chapters, hospitals/healthcare delivery systems, mentors and more — honor them all as your stars this holiday season.

By making a donation to ACMA and recognizing your holiday star(s), their name will be listed: in ACMA's Collaborative Case Management journal, in ACMA's briefCASE e-newsletter and on the ACMA website. All proceeds support ACMA's fundraising efforts, and as ACMA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, your donation is tax deductible.

California nurses say they'll strike, without talking wagesNPR
As many as 18,000 nurses in Northern California are preparing for a two-day strike. Nurses plan to leave their posts at 7 a.m. and picket outside 21 Kaiser Permanente medical centers and clinics.
The placards nurses carry and the chants they repeat will say little about salaries or pensions. No economic proposals have even been put on the bargaining table yet.
"This seems awfully quick to go to a strike," says Joanne Spetz, an economics professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing.More

Intermountain Healthcare shares lessons in achieving Triple AimFiercePracticeManagement
For today's primary care practices, the holy grail of delivering personalized, patient-centered care is actually three-fold. This "Triple Aim" consists of improved health for designated populations, better care experiences for patients and reduced cost of care. And while learning several lessons along the way, Intermountain Healthcare has achieved these goals, according to an article from H&HN.More